Helpful Score: 2
This is one of Martini's earlier works. Even though the main character is an attorney, this is not his usual court room drama. Popular authors usually get better with more experience, but this one is a winner. It has more twists and turns than a southern Indiana back road.
Helpful Score: 1
Typical of Martini, very good book.
Helpful Score: 1
I normally love Steve Martini's books, especially the Paul Madriani series, but this one was too dry with two-dimensional characters and unbelievable plot developments for my taste. I had to force myself to finish it.
Helpful Score: 1
An excellenat plot
Very good mystery.
A legal thriller about an adoption case and a lost inheritance.
have read most of Martini books . This was one of the best
Another great Martini novel -- many twists and turns. Easy to read.
If one can be cheerfully jaded, Sam Bogardus, attorney-at-law, fits the bill in this intriguing first novel by Martini, a lawyer himself. Using his professional skills to authenticate the slick plot, he captures the reader's attention in a chilling prologue to this provocative murder mystery set in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bogardus is the law partner of his former lover, though the relationship is now platonic. Bored, he takes on elegant Jennifer Davies as a client. She has fallen heir to an ancient, valuable document belonging to her father, which surfaced 33 years after he mysteriously disappeared in a 1942 Navy blimp crash. When Bogardus discovers the literary legacy is probably an excerpt from lost diaries of 16th century explorer Sir Francis Drake, word of the find leaks out and the net closes on Davies and Bogardus. Willing to kidnap, maim and kill to possess the papers, his covetous adversaries unwittingly lead the counselor to San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst's castle, where he unearths a startling wartime black-market scandal. Events that stretch the imagination emerge here, but Martini's enthusiasm keeps the reader engrossed. A fast read, the novel provides a peek at the Bay environs, its interesting past and, finally, "history's cruel irony," which brings the story to a stunning finale.
Lawyer Sam Bogardus thought it was a routine adoption case. His client believed her natural father had died years ago in a bizarre accident. But now, she has received a message that her father is still alive. The message is attached to four pages of an ancient journal that could be the key to a hidden fortune. And Sam's investigation leads to a loved one's murder..
What he uncovers is more shocking than greed or revenge. It's a web of conspiracy that spans four centuries...And it's enough to make a lawyer take the law into his own hands.
What he uncovers is more shocking than greed or revenge. It's a web of conspiracy that spans four centuries...And it's enough to make a lawyer take the law into his own hands.
Lawyer Sam Bogardus thought it was a routine adoption case. His client believed her natural father had died years ago in a bizarre accident. But now, she has received a message that her father is still alive.......................
Well-used, but in fair condition
